Time for another bit of traveling, this time starting in the Windy City.

Chicago is the third largest city in the USA (New York City and Los Angeles are numbers 1 and 2 respectively - Houston is number 4) and is on the shore of Lake Michigan, one of the five North American Great Lakes. As always with America, everything is bigger so this Lake is actually larger than Croatia. You can see the shore here with Navy Pier (which includes a Ferris wheel, theaters, museums, shops and restaurants) to the left:

I can think of at least two bands that came out of Chicago: Styx and Chicago.

Styx were formed in 1961 on the south side of Chicago and are probably best known for their worst song (in the opinion of most fans) called “Babe”, and they did a song called “Back to Chicago” as a tribute to their home town.

Chicago were originally known as the Chicago Transit Authority before they were forced to change their name by the real CTA. Chicago’s tribute to Chicago is called “Take Me Back To Chicago” and it can be found on their album “Chicago XI” (so that should be easy to remember!).

Here are some of the things you must do if in Chicago:

1. Try a Chicago Dog

A Chicago-style hot dog is served in a steamed poppy seed bun and topped with mustard, onion, sweet pickle relish (which is a shade of green not known to the natural world), dill pickle, tomato, peppers, celery salt and (sometimes) cucumber.

Here is a Chicago Dog:

Do not, however, confuse this with a Korean Dog:

It is considered a serious faux-pas (possibly something punishable by prison time, although I didn’t establish this) to put ketchup on a Chicago Dog. Even Dirty Harry follows this rule - in the movie “Sudden Impact” Clint Eastwood says "Nobody - I mean NOBODY puts ketchup on a Hot Dog!". And who would argue with a .44 Magnum pointed at their face?

2. Try Garrett's popcorn

Garretts has been making its famous popcorn in Chicago since 1949 and today its fan base includes Oprah (whose TV show is based there), who includes it on her regular list of favorite things (I think diets must be on there too). Unfortunately due to time (and stomach space) this had to be left off our agenda.

3. Try a traditional Chicago Pizza.

The deep-dish style of pizza was invented in Chicago (some time in the 1940’s - as usual there are many versions of the history) and the idea was to make the traditional thin crust pizza being served in New York into more of a substantial meal. In fact its unlikely that you’d be able to eat this style of pizza in any way other than on a plate with a knife and fork.

A Chicago style pizza has thick layer of dough, covered with cheese then meats vegetables before being finished with a sauce of crushed tomatoes.

Here’s an example at Malnati’s (Rudy Malnati is considered by some such as the Chicago Daily News to be the inventor of the Chicago style pizza).

If you think it doesn’t look that big, then go and see if you can eat more than three slices in one sitting.

4. Visit the Howl at the Moon piano bar

There are a lot of dueling piano bars in the US. Originating in Dallas in the ‘80s, these bars contain two grand pianos on which resident pianists play requests from the audience. The Howl at the Moon bar in Chicago is one of a chain in the US and is definitely recommended. A fine rendition of “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey rounded off the evening here.

5. Get some hand pulled ale at the Clark Street Ale House

Hand pumps in pubs and bars are few and far between in America. This one behind Mr Boyle’s head is one of the few.
The beer on the pump changes so you may need to go several times during your stay (Three Floyds was on draught the night we went) and you will be able to experience the magic of a flat pint (that has some flavor unlike many American beers) just like in England.

And so from Chicago it was off to Manchester, New Hampshire, via Philadelphia. Philadelphia is famous for several things, among them:

    -Its where the Declaration of Independence was signed

    -Its where the Liberty Bell was first rung to summon citizens to the reading of the Declaration

Its not where Philadelphia cheese comes from (its actually from New York) but it is actually named after the place (because at the time, in 1880, Philadelphia was considered to be the place for top quality food).

The most interesting fact about Philadelphia is that the people of this historic city voted as their Mayor a man called Michael Nutter.

For once the name Mustard seems quite normal.

Once in Manchester (The setting for episode 1 of season 3 of the West Wing for those of you who watched this show) I was able to see the colors of Fall. Sadly no photograph I could take can show you just how amazing this looked. Here’s the best I could do:

You could be forgiven for thinking you are back in England when driving in the Massachusetts/New Hampshire area. Here are a few of the places I saw signposted on my journey from Boston to Manchester and back:

    -Haverhill

    -Reading

    -Malden

    -Cambridge

    -Andover

    -Tewksbury

    -Woburn

The route back to Boston’s Logan airport (and the end of a week of travel) culminated in a drive over Charles river on the Leonard P Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge (try saying that after 10 bottles of Samuel Adams Lager).
Leonard Zakim was a noted civil rights activist in the Boston area. The bridge named after him is the widest cable-stayed bridge in the world and was built as part of the “Big Dig”, the largest highway construction project ever to take place in the USA.

Next week I will be mostly not traveling.